English Listening: A Diet Changed My Life | Episode 21

Listen to a story about how a diet changed my life!

You’ll also learn how to say the word “diet” and how to link vowel sounds in a word.

Welcome to the English Teacher Melanie Podcast, a podcast for intermediate to advanced English learners who want to improve their English listening and speaking skills!

Each episode includes a story and a pronunciation tip. In the story, I use core vocabulary, the most common words in English, to tell a real world story. The pronunciation tip will help you understand natural spoken English.

You’ll hear the story twice. The first time, the story is a little slower than normal. It sounds funny because I used editing software to change the speed of the story and make it slower. After the pronunciation tip, you’ll hear the story again, but at a regular speed.

THE STORY

I’ve been sick for a long time. I was diagnosed with a chronic illness in 2009, but I’d been sick for many years before that. Over the years, I tried a lot of different things to improve my health, but nothing helped me fully recover. By the end of 2014, I was desperate. I decided to investigate if a radical change in my diet would improve my health.

I heard about a medical laboratory that does a blood test that checks for food intolerances or foods that might cause problems in your body. I decided to have the test done, even though there is no agreement among doctors that this test measures anything. My results showed that I had 32 intolerances to everything under the sun: milk, wheat, soy, … you name it! I didn’t know what to do! What was I going to eat?

I made an appointment with a dietician who specializes in food intolerances. I wanted to know what she thought about the results and if she thought a new diet could help me get better. She asked me to keep a diet diary. I had to write down everything I ate, how much I ate, what time I ate at, how hungry I felt, and any symptoms I experienced afterward. When I returned to the dietician, she knew right away what my problem was: sugar, specifically natural sugars in certain foods like milk, wheat, beans, and some fruits and vegetables. These sugars are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. For some people, this causes digestive problems and other problems throughout the body.

My next task was to stop eating all these foods. From the moment I started this diet, my life turned around. Most of my symptoms have disappeared. I have more energy, I sleep better, and I get more work done during the day. This is the best thing that has happened to me in years. This diet is not easy at all. I have to cook everything from scratch and eating out is difficult, but I couldn’t be happier.

Comments

Hi teacher Melanie, unfortunately I can’t listen to episode 21 because of error on that episode and I wonder is there another way to listen to that episode? thank you very much, my regards from CAIRO, EGYPT

I got the results of a blood test just a few weeks ago.
I am intolerant to gluten, either is my son, aged 16, We have already started the diet. It is not that difficult to cook and pepare meals without gluten at home.
But it is’nt quite easy for my son, especially when he meets his friends and they decide to go out for having a pizza or hamburger or any other fast food.

It can’t be easy being 16 & gluten-intolerant! I feel for your son. Many restaurants now offer gluten-free options but it’s impossible to prevent cross-contamination (gluten from other food getting mixed in your son’s food).

I agree with you that it is not that difficult to cook and prepare meals without gluten at home! I have a health food store in my town and it is very easy to find all kinds of food that I can eat. A lot of regular supermarkets now offer gluten-free products, too.

Hi Melanie,
I’m pretty sure Luis thought about “This WAS good news (…)” – that there should be “WERE” instead of “WAS”. But of course the original version is absolutely correct as the noun “news” is uncountable (the news is…. – NOT the news are…). Thanks a lot for such an interesting website and all your dedication to helping others with their linguistic dilemmas.

I am an English teacher myself and I have just started to boy your guides. They are amazing. I would like to use them with my private students. Can I do that? Thanks in advance. Awesome material. Congratulations and keep the great work.

Dear Melanie,
I really enjoy your podcasts. They are amazing and I hope you work for another else. I´m haevy training my listening skill, but I understand still a little bit worse than Iˇd want do it. It´s frustrated but I haven´t gave up!
What about my diet? I have started my diet because my fat body and bad health. Now I eat healthier, make a gym, swimming and ride bicycle. I´m stronger, I have more than 10 kilos down, feel better myself and my doctor told I´m healthier in general. It´s super, isn´t it?

Fortunately, I don’t have any food allergy at all!! I m very thankful for that!! But, the most important thing I learn from the podcast . I Believe I don’t listen carefully When other people talking or reading. When you mentioned about what was …,,,, my eye open….,,,,!!! Therefore, from now on I try to be listen more carefully … Thank you !!!

Thanks Melanie. Your tips are incredible and useful. I am alergic to some vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and etc. When I eat them they make my mouth red and hot, my lips swollen and I have pain in my tummy for a few days. I like these vegetables a lot but there is no option for me. I have to avoid them to be health.

hi dear teacher…i am not in a special diet but i do not eat every things i like vegetable fruit(apple more)milk i do taekwondo however i enjoyed from this listening i am sure this is useful i like your accent this is my dream that i can speak like you one day thanks very much for your teaching i wish the best for you

Hi Melanie,firstly I like your accent and the way you teach English..I rarely look at your website but I have decided that I will follow you more often from now on..I’m allergic to Octopus which results in (I’m not sure what the exact word is in English but I guess you call it ‘paraglossa’)swelling my tongue.Apart from Octobus I can eat anything so I’m the lucky one I reckon.I’m following you from the instagram as well..
All the best to you.
Ayşe

Hi, as I am from But I am always linked you your Blog , I appreciate a lot the way you record the Postcards and just eanmm increase, you have a wonderful pronunciation.but I just would to know how to do when speaking to somebody who speaks english quickly if there other information with importants characteristics.

hello Melanie, I’m happy to hear from you, your story is very interesting and I’m glad that that diet really help you to improve your health, in my case I’m not in a diet I can eat anything fortunately I’ve been very healthy all mi life and when I get sick I look for the alternative medicines it works very good on my body.
on the other hand I want to say that you’ re the best teacher I’ve been learning a lot from your lessons, bye god bless you.

Hi teacher, from now on i’m going to pray for you since you’re sick (i’m adventist) do you know anything about adventism?
I have a question about the pronunciation what was, well it’s not exactly the same words but i think it has to do something with that. In Taylor Swift’s song shake it off she says: “that’s what people say” and i think she omit some sounds, i hear as if she say another thing, she doesn’t say completely what, she reduce it. But i’m not sure about it. Can you explain me better? I hope you’ve understand everything i wrote.

First, I LOVE that song! I went to see Taylor Swift in concert on Saturday in Toronto! It was so fun.

When she sings, “that’s what people say,” the T at the of WHAT is held.

There are two parts of the T sound:
1. Your tongue moves and touches the top of your mouth. This stops the air from coming out of your mouth & stop the sound.
2. Your tongue drops and there is a release or puff of air coming out of your mouth.

In the held T sound, you only do part 1. You don’t finish the sound. So when you say “what” in “that’s what people say,” your tongue goes up & touches the top of your mouth, but it doesn’t drop. You just go on to the next sound, the P in people. There is no release or puff of air to complete the T sound.

Thank you for sharing your story. I don’t have any food allergies. But I have anemia because my period is irregular. sometimes it’s heavy and lasts for many days. I have seen my family doctors for a few times. She gave me some advice and asked me to take blood test. She also gave me prescriptions. I don’t like to take medicine everyday because I think taking medicine everyday might harm my health. But I do pay attention to what i eat. I wish you all the best!

I don’t like to take medicine, either, for the same reason. I don’t even like to take medicine for a cold! Sometimes the side effects of the medicine are worse than the original problem.

Thank you for sharing your story with me as well. Can you take vitamins instead of medicine to help you? I went to a naturopathic doctor for awhile and was advised to add vitamins to my diet. I was tested for anemia, but I have the opposite – iron saturation, although this is not a serious problem.

Hi, Melanie-my-favorite-teacher!
Thanks a lot for your work! Hope this diet will help you, I understand that isn’t easy to keep so strict diet for the rest of your life.
Fortunately, I don’t alergic to food. But I’m allergic to cats. So I have to always have special pills in my purse, when I’m going to visit my friends (everybody have cats!) in order not to bother other people with my sneezing.

I don’t really have food allergies most of my life but I’ve just noticed that I feel bloated right after drinking too much milk not long ago. After a checkup, I discovered that now I’ve become lactose-intolerant. Thus, I’ve been trying to stay away from milk or just consume less amount of milk each time.

That happened to my cousin! She drank a lot of milk when she was younger, but now she is lactose-intolerant, too! It’s so strange that you both developed an intolerance later in life. I can’t drink any milk or eat any yogurt, but I can eat some cheese, like cheddar cheese. I drink rice milk instead.

´m currently on a diet, actually not a diet, but I take some kind of pills before I have my breakfast. It contains black pepper,etc….maybe it helps..I don´t know..we´ll see :)
thanks for the listening task…all the best Nadia

I too, am allergic to life. I have reactions after eating fresh fruits or veggies, milk and some nuts. I live in a remote community so I am not sure if I even have a dietician let alone one who specializes in allergies, but it is worth a shot. Thanks for the tips!

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About Melanie

I help English learners move from the classroom into the real world by teaching you real world sentences and helping you understand natural spoken English. I also help you find the best study tips and training techniques that work for you!

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